


Born With Parts to Play

by Spidew



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Gender Identity Discussion, Mentions of homophobia, Post-Canon, lots of introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:46:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spidew/pseuds/Spidew
Summary: In Ingvarr they’d consider her butch. If she asked Rapunzel’s Aunt Willow, she’d probably call Cassandra non-binary. Both descriptors seemed to fit yet she remained unsatisfied. They were correctly placed puzzle pieces in the incomplete picture that was her identity.A post-canon fic about Cassandra coming to terms with being a non-binary he/him lesbian
Relationships: Cassandra/Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	Born With Parts to Play

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is extremely self-indulgent as I myself am a non-binary he/him lesbian. I am projecting my own thought process heavily onto Cass here. But Cass, and specifically Prince Cass from solisaureus's Diadem AU made me feel many gender feelings. Sorry if this fic transes your gender.
> 
> The validity of he/him lesbians and non-binary lesbians and whether or not Cass is one is not up for debate. If you disagree then leave. It's not for you.

Something was bothering Cassandra. That was hardly uncommon for her but it had been some time since something was truly gnawing at her like this. Things were supposed to be good now. In general, they were. Zhan Tiri was gone, Corona was repaired enough to be functional again, and, oh yeah, she was dating Rapunzel now.

It was a fact that still often seemed too good to be true. Part of her is still worried that one of these days she’ll wake up in the dungeon, the last few months having been nothing more than some dream to keep herself sane. But despite lingering fears and having to deal with some rather uncomfortable conversations with Eugene, life with her and Rapunzel was great. Far better than she ever considered, really, given all the pain she put Raps through. For perhaps the first time in her life, Cassandra felt content. So why was this new thing bothering her?

  
There had been a noticeable shift in how other people were treating her lately, different from even just a few months ago when she was regarded as nothing more than the traitor The Princess chose to forgive. No, this new attitude only came about after Cassandra and Rapunzel went public about their relationship. It wasn’t the strange looks or judgemental reactions that bothered her either. She expected those, especially since she had been getting them all her life to some extent. What she didn’t expect was that the ones who accepted her, the ones who she actually spoke to and interacted with on a regular basis, they had all started treating her… more like one of the guys.

  
Cassandra was equal parts frustrated and comforted by this fact. She was ecstatic to be no longer seen as a fragile weak handmaiden, but it didn't feel right. Why now? Why, after a lifetime of insisting? Was this some roundabout way of not truly accepting her and Rapunzel? She could imagine the thought process in her head. _Well, The Princess isn’t_ really _gay since Cassandra is the man in the relationship._ The hypothetical indignation pissed her off. She was a lesbian and everyone was just going to have to learn to live with that fact! And yet, she would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy being regarded as a guy.

  
So… what did that say about her exactly?

  
It was easy to dismiss this all as overthinking. Surely it was all nothing more than a result of how men and women are treated unequally, and Cassandra simply liked being treated better. There was nothing more to it. However, the questions persisted.  
Staring at herself in the mirror provided no clearer answers. Cassandra instead lingered on her face, still far more ashen and gaunt than she was used to. If she squinted she could believe she looked like her old self on a particularly bad day, but the results of all that time spent pushing herself to her limits had yet to fade. She tore her gaze away and examined her hair. Nice and short, just the way she liked it. Did that mean something? Did it express something about herself? What about her clothes? Now that she was no longer a handmaiden, she never again wore dresses. Most people would describe her style as masculine. But was this out of any aesthetic preferences or simply out of practicality? After all, it just makes sense for someone as active as her to avoid the restrictions of long hair and dresses.

  
Her mind bounced back and forth, bringing up points and shooting them down. She tried to take an alternate route and focus on what she was certain of. Cassandra was not a man. There was no doubt in her mind about that. She did not consider herself to be a man and had no desire to be one. She was a lesbian, an identifier she wore with pride and a dash of spite. So long had it felt like a dirty word to her, so long had she tried to avoid it. Now it was like music to her ears. Cassandra, the lesbian. A beautiful act of defiance.

  
Lesbian and not a man, got it. So was she a woman then? She presumed so, but it all felt so fuzzy and vague. And it wasn’t for any lack of having the words to express herself. In Ingvarr they’d consider her butch. If she asked Rapunzel’s Aunt Willow, she’d probably call Cassandra non-binary. Both descriptors seemed to fit yet she remained unsatisfied. They were correctly placed puzzle pieces in the incomplete picture that was her identity.

  
An old memory surfaced in her mind. It was right after her father cut her hair short for the first time when she was just six years old. It was really sweet now that she thought about it. He was so unsure of how to fulfill her request properly and just sort of nervously chopped most of her hair off with one of his swords. But more notably, not too long after, she remembered walking around with her father, and someone from behind called out to him and ‘his son’. The person apologized once she turned around but the confusion didn’t bother six-year-old Cassandra at all. If there was any word to describe how being mistaken for a boy made her feel it would be… smug. It was a strange sort of accomplishment. A jab at femininity.

  
Cassandra supposed the feeling was not too dissimilar to how she treats her identity as a lesbian now. A mix of _Hah! You thought only boys could look and act like this?_ and _Hah! You thought only men loved women?_

  
She frowned at her reflection. Something still didn’t feel right. Maybe Cassandra could try binding her chest like how Adira does? It was worth a shot.

Two Months Later

Cassandra was sitting outside with Rapunzel, hands overlaid, and enjoying the afternoon sun. It seems Cassandra could never get enough of the sun these days.

  
“Oh! I came up with a new design that I’d thought you’d like!” Rapunzel said, jumping to life to grab her journal, “I saw this fabric with the prettiest pattern yesterday that I think would be perfect for a button-up top for you! It’s this really dark olive green, which _I know_ isn’t your favorite color but think of how it would bring out your beautiful eyes!”

  
As Rapunzel prattled on, showing off design sketches she made, Cassandra couldn’t help but smile. Being supportive of her decision to bind her chest was one thing, but this went above and beyond. Ever since she told her, Rapunzel had taken it upon herself to start sewing Cassandra all sorts of newly-tailored shirts to match. Not that she liked to bind all the time, in fact, she wasn’t even binding today, but it was often enough that her girlfriend’s enthusiasm was greatly appreciated.

Soon after, they strolled over to the fabric shop and Rapunzel approached the shopkeeper to buy the material she had mentioned.

  
“You certainly seem excited,” The shopkeeper said, cutting the fabric to length, “got a particularly fun sewing project in mind, Princess?”

  
Rapunzel beamed and snuck her arm around Cassandra’s waist. “You bet! I’m going to make a new shirt for my girlfriend here! Doesn’t this pattern just match her eye color perfectly?”

  
The shopkeeper looked at Cassandra while still addressing Rapunzel, “I think you’re right! It’s nice to see more folks making things for their loved ones. She’s lucky to have you.”

  
_There’s that gnawing feeling again._

  
“Thanks, but I’d say _I’m_ lucky to have _her,_ ” Rapunzel said as she made her purchase. With a smile and a wave, she and Cassandra left the shop and began their walk back to the castle, all the while conflicting feelings began to stew inside Cassandra’s head.

Once in Rapunzel’s bedroom, Cassandra sat down on the bed and ran a hand through her hair. Her pulse quickened and her tongue felt heavy in her mouth. “Hey... Raps?”

“Yes, Cass?” Rapunzel said. Instead of replying, Cassandra just stared at her dumbly. Rapunzel tilted her head, “Something on your mind?”

“What if… you called me he instead of she?”

Rapunzel took a moment to process what Cassandra had said. After a blink, she gave Cassandra a wide grin. “Yeah, sure!”

Cassandra’s hands gripped the bedsheets, “Yeah? That’s it?”

“You asked me to call you he so I’ll do it, what else is there?” Rapunzel said, plopping down on the bed next to him.

“You’re not going to question me or- or think it’s weird?”

“Well, I guess I have _some_ questions,” Rapunzel mused, “Are you okay with feminine titles like girlfriend or do you want me to call you something else?”

Cassandra’s mouth hung open for a moment before closing. Rapunzel seemed to be accepting the idea sooner than he himself was and was trying to catch up. “No, girlfriend is fine. I’m still a woman… to at least some degree.” He winced at his own words, “That doesn't make any sense, does it?”

Rapunzel shrugged. “I think it does. Like, most people would think of the clothes you wear as ‘men’s clothes’, right? But wearing them doesn’t suddenly make you a man. It’s like that! Using pronouns most people think of as male pronouns doesn’t make you a man either.”

“Huh… yeah. That’s- I think you explained my thoughts better than I could.” Cassandra replied. “How are you being so understanding right now?”

“I don’t know! It’s hard for me to really grasp the idea of gender to begin with. For the first eighteen years of my life, my only concept of what a man even was came from books!” Rapunzel said.

Cassandra let out a laugh. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

Rapunzel leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “How about we take your new pronouns for a spin?”

Now it was Cassandra's turn to tilt his head in confusion. “What?”

“Well, there’s not many opportunities for me to call you _he_ when I’m talking directly to you,” Rapunzel got up and retrieved her journal, quill, and ink before returning, “So instead I’m going to talk out loud while I write about you in my journal!”

Cassandra quirked an eyebrow and smiled. “Alright, yeah. Go for it.”

With a giddy squeak, Rapunzel began to write. “Today, I had fun with the love of my life, Cassandra. He-”

“Wait,” Cassandra said. Rapunzel paused and looked at him. “I think I want to… only be called Cass. Not Cassandra and more, just Cass.” He cleared his throat, “Not to, uh, take away the nickname you have for me or anything.”

“No problem, but this just means I’ll have to think of an even _better_ nickname for you,” Rapunzel said with a grin. She crossed out what she had written and started over. “Today, I had fun with the love of my life, Cass. We ate lunch and spent time outside together, enjoying each other’s company. Then we went to the fabric shop and I got this beautiful material I'll use to make a new shirt for him! I can’t wait to make it, it’s going to look so good with his eyes! After that, Cass told me things he was figuring out about himself. He seemed pretty nervous but I’m so happy for him. It might take time to remember, and who knows if other things might evolve or change in time. Luckily, there’s no one I’d rather spend time with than my Prince Cass.”

Rapunzel slowly sat down her journal and turned to Cass. “How was that?”

“That was perfect,” He said, pulling her into a kiss, “My Princess.”


End file.
